Hello everyone. I am a home cook living in Manchester. I already own a Tojiro Senkou 7" santoku and 5" utility knife, and have recently purchased a set of Globals. I never like the santoku because I found it too heavy and unweildy. I know everyone advises against buying a knife set but I am actually finding it quite useful in determining what type of blade I like to use and what I will find useful. I never thought I would use a paring knife but now that I have one as part of the set, I find myself using it on a regular basis.
I will no doubt soon want to upgrade and/or thin out my knives but I want to learn to make the most of what i got first. I need a chopping board and a sharpening system and that is what I want help with. Do I also need anything else?
Chopping board:
Being in the UK, it seems my choices are limited. The only place I can find sani-tuff boards are here: http://www.buymats.co.uk/product/227/cutting-boards-sani-tuff and it seems they cost a small fortune. Is there a cheaper supplier? The only endgrain board I can find is this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000G04NRU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 and while the price seems very reasonable, is it any good? Which is better suited to the home environment? For those who use endgrain, do you prepare raw meat/poultry on a different board? Is it necessary?
Sharpening:
I don't really want to spend the time learning how to freehand sharpen if I can get very good results using some kind of Jig. It is my birthday in a few weeks and I was considering getting the Shapton GS Edge Pro from **************. Will it provide me with good edges on all blades? Will it restrict my knife choices? Also, should I get a decent steel to use with my knives or a strop. I have an 18"x3" leather strop I could use as well as some chromium oxide powder.
This post seemed a lot shorter in my head. Probably should of made it to posts but you know what newbies are like. Too many questions!
Edit: I just noticed the filter has automagically edited my post with asterisks. If I made a mistake by mentioning that vendor, I apologise.
I will no doubt soon want to upgrade and/or thin out my knives but I want to learn to make the most of what i got first. I need a chopping board and a sharpening system and that is what I want help with. Do I also need anything else?
Chopping board:
Being in the UK, it seems my choices are limited. The only place I can find sani-tuff boards are here: http://www.buymats.co.uk/product/227/cutting-boards-sani-tuff and it seems they cost a small fortune. Is there a cheaper supplier? The only endgrain board I can find is this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000G04NRU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 and while the price seems very reasonable, is it any good? Which is better suited to the home environment? For those who use endgrain, do you prepare raw meat/poultry on a different board? Is it necessary?
Sharpening:
I don't really want to spend the time learning how to freehand sharpen if I can get very good results using some kind of Jig. It is my birthday in a few weeks and I was considering getting the Shapton GS Edge Pro from **************. Will it provide me with good edges on all blades? Will it restrict my knife choices? Also, should I get a decent steel to use with my knives or a strop. I have an 18"x3" leather strop I could use as well as some chromium oxide powder.
This post seemed a lot shorter in my head. Probably should of made it to posts but you know what newbies are like. Too many questions!
Edit: I just noticed the filter has automagically edited my post with asterisks. If I made a mistake by mentioning that vendor, I apologise.
Last edited by a moderator: